JUST-IN: Appeal Court Sacks Bauchi Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker of the House, Jamilu Umaru Dahiru Barade of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was fired by the Court of Appeal, located in Abuja, a few days after the election of the Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly was declared invalid.

In a ruling on Monday, the three-member panel of Justices overturned the ruling of the Bauchi State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which had earlier confirmed Barade’s election as the legitimately elected representative of the Bauchi Central State constituency.

As a result, the panel mandated rerun elections in a few polling places inside the constituency, where Aliyu Abdullahi Ilela, the All Progressives Congress (APC) appellant, claimed there had been excessive voting.

Before selecting the winner, the court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to get the Certificate of Return that had previously been given to the Deputy Speaker and hold another election in the impacted Polling Units.

According to Gistlover, the decision was made just a few days after Abubakar Sulaiman, the Speaker of the House, was fired by the appellate court.

In response to the ruling, Barrister Aminu Balarabe Isah, one of the Deputy Speaker’s attorneys, stated that it was unclear how many polling places would see repeat elections and that the judges had only been able to provide a synopsis of their decision owing to time constraints.

According to him, the number of polling stations that would be impacted will be known as soon as the court releases the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the ruling.

Barrister UB Darazo, an attorney for the APC candidate, stated that the ruling was reasonable and equitable.

He stated that the ruling had delighted the APC and its candidate.

 “It is an indication that the 2023 elections in Bauchi were faulty,” he stated.